Alec Schaffer
aschaff3@uwyo.edu
Predicted budget shortcomings for the City of Laramie may mean during the 2015 fiscal year it will be receiving $865,023 less than previously planned
Traditionally the City of Laramie has relied heavily on state shared hardship funding; however, in light of the recent financial troubles facing the state hardship funding is being reconfigured.
The 2015 legislature direction to joint revenue committee for interim study has been projecting the funding loss for Laramie.
Senate President Phil Nicholas, R-Albany, expressed concerns about the decrease in state shared revenue and worried it will force the city into a tough spot.
“Without additional revenue we all may be in an environment where we’re trying to hold our own,” Nicholas said during a joint meeting between members of the Laramie City Council, city staff and state lawmakers last Monday.
In 1990 the de-earmarking of state revenue began.
In 2001 the severance tax receipts where capped at 9.25 percent share of a $155 million. As long as severance tax receipts exceed approximately $165 million, the severance tax distribution for municipalities will remain constant at $14,337, 500, capped at 2002 levels.
In 2007 the loss of sales tax on food was estimated to be $46.6 million a year, according to WAM, the Wyoming Association of Municipalities.
The combination of these actions has limited the ability of municipalities to raise funding, forcing a reliance on state shared revenue.
As a result of the hardship funding reconfiguration, the 2015 Legislature direction to joint revenue committee for interim study, has been tasked with resolving local government funding problems and establishing guidelines for fiscal sustainability for enterprise funds.
The committee will study sales tax distributions back to local government and the concept of power equalization. However the committee is not to make change to funding formula for municipalities.
Many city staff are concerned the joint revenue committee could lose sight of the larger problem of local government funding, Laramie City Manager Jane Jordan said.
Speaker of the House Kermit Brown warned the council and city staff not to overlook the local and state government funding problems.
“I would caution you not to overlook that we’re taking a double hit,” Brown said. “Our budget is decreasing because of lower mineral prices and federal mineral royalties go right down with it. When that school foundation account cannot pay the operational cost of education, it starts coming out of the general fund. It could be a fairly terrifying scenario and we don’t know where it’s going, so none of us are prepared to make any promises of any kind.”
“I promise you we’ll do the best we can to determine Laramie is treated fairly,” Brown said.
